Don't Leave (My Heart Would Break If You Did)
by Myra109
Summary: Colin survives during the battle, but just barely. Minerva McGonagall, who sees him as the son she never had, prays for him to stay alive, to keep fighting. Like a mother losing a child, her heart would break if he died, so she prays and begs for him to stay. The question is... will he? AU


_Hello, everyone! This can be seen as a spin off of A Flame In A World Of Snowflakes, but it can also stand alone. Like A Flame In A World Of Snowflakes, this story focuses on the mother/son relationship between Minerva McGonagall and Colin Creevey._

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._**

* * *

He was alive. Barely.

Minerva McGonagall couldn't believe Colin Creevey had survived, but she was glad he did.

The battle was won, but the war was far from over for those that had lost and for those that were left teetering on a thin line between losing someone and holding onto them. Minerva was one of the people stuck on that line as she stared at her innocent, amazing, creative, bright-eyed student laying in that hospital bed, pale as death and cold as ice but still breathing.

His heart still beating; his lungs still expanding; his brain still functioning. He was alive, but not awake. The sixteen year old photographer was in a coma, a dangerous amount of blood having spilled from his body and onto the castle floor.

Minerva didn't think it was right to see the energetic, eccentric boy lying so still. His toes didn't wiggle; his fingers didn't tap; his lips didn't curve into a bright smile that lit up a room. No. He might as well have been dead to the world, but Minerva placed a hand on his chest and felt it move lightly under her palm as he breathed. She watched as green mountains climbed on the heart monitor, as his vitals appeared on the machines around her.

She wasn't sure what spell he'd been hit with. Only that he'd leaped in front of the spell as it hurtled towards Minerva's back; she didn't even see it coming until the spell hit Colin instead, and he crumpled to the ground, wailing as cuts appeared across his skin, some sickeningly deep and others nauseatingly wide. Minerva had barely gotten him to Madame Pomphry in time, and after discovering Colin had a blood type of AB, the same as her, she gave him as much blood as she could spare.

He'd saved her life during the battle. It was only fair that she saved his during the fight for his own life.

It had been three days. Minerva had only left his side once, despite Madam Pomphry begging for her to sleep in her bed and get a good night's rest. Not that that would've been possible, anyway, with nightmares of Colin and other students she'd lost haunting her in her slumber.

Colin was more than just a student to her. He was like her son, her child. Most people would've been surprised to know about the parental instinct, the love a parent feels for their child, that Minerva had when it came to Colin. She was always so distant, strict, maybe even a little cold. But she did care. She did love. She hadn't felt such a strong parental kind of love for anyone since… the Marauders. After James died, Sirius was arrested; Peter went missing; and Remus disappeared into himself. Minerva tried to keep herself from bonding with students because she had a fear she would lose them.

She couldn't stop her heart from growing with a special parental care and affection when she met Colin Creevey, no matter how hard she tried. And now… she might lose him, too.

She wasn't sure if her heart could handle the loss of another person she cared so deeply for. If Colin died, she feared she might die along with him.

Minerva couldn't remember the last time she prayed, but if there was a time for prayer, it was now.

"Hello," she murmured, staring at the ceiling. "God, Father… I know I haven't prayed in a long time, but I really need Your help now. Or more accurately, someone else needs Your help right now. Colin Creevey… he's the sweetest, happiest kid you will ever meet. He's different in a way people so rarely see.

"He's dying. He's only sixteen, and he's dying. He doesn't deserve to die young. There's so much he wants to do, needs to do. I know if he has the chance, he can truly make this world a better place. So please… do some of your miracles and make it the day of the battle again. But this time, don't let him jump in front of me. I'll take his fate if it means he gets to continue living. I'm not getting any younger, but he has his whole life ahead of him. Please…"

Minerva hadn't cried in a very long time. Not in seventeen years. The last time she cried was when Sirius was arrested and before that, when she discovered Lily and James had died. But now… she really needed to cry.

Tears trickled down her face, and her bony hand gripped Colin's limp fingers.

"Please," she begged. "Don't die on me… Please."

Nothing. No reaction from the comatose boy.

Minerva sniffled, and she heard Madam Pomphry enter the room. She didn't turn around, but she knew the healer was staring at her in sympathy.

"He saved me," she whispered.

* * *

Colin didn't know where he was. All he knew was that it was way too bright.

He was standing at a train station, one that looked oddly like Platform 9 3/4 with a train that resembled the Hogwarts Express, except this train was a perfectly pure shade of white and a beautiful gold. He wandered and wandered and wandered, but he always seemed to end up back at the same spot. The strange thing was… the only direction he went in was straight, so he couldn't have been going in circles.

Colin wasn't sure how he felt about this place. On one hand, he didn't feel like he was in any danger. He wasn't looking over his shoulder, fearing something might leap out of him, but just because he didn't feel like he was in any danger didn't mean he felt safe or at ease.

After all, he was in a strange place he didn't want to be in. He didn't know where he was or how he got there, and worst of all, he was frighteningly alone. There were no signs of life anywhere, except for Colin.

The feeling of being utterly alone in this strange world was the worst part, he believed. It's like he stepped out of his own world, the one he's used to, and into a different one where he's all alone with no way out. No one to ask for help or direction. No one to save him. Colin was on his own, and he didn't even know where to start looking for an exit.

Colin saw something change in the corner of his eye, and he spun around to see a bright light appearing behind him. At first, he was excited because he could finally escape this strange world, but then, everything came rushing back.

Seeing Professor McGonagall in danger with her back turned as a spell was sent flying towards her… Leaping in front of her… The agony as the spell hit his chest… blood dripping from numerous cuts… the tears in his professor's eyes as she held her dying student in her arms.

That's what this place was, wasn't it? This world was the in between, and somehow, Colin knew if he went into that light, he wouldn't come back out. He'd be dead. No turning back.

A part of him was tempted. If he didn't take this chance to escape this in between, who knows how long he'd be stuck here for?

"Hello."

Colin jumped as he glanced around. The voice was loud and clear, and it seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Professor McGonagall?" he whispered in confusion.

"God, Father… I know I haven't prayed in a long time, but I really need Your help now. Or more accurately, someone else needs Your help right now. Colin Creevey… he's the sweetest, happiest kid you will ever meet. He's different in a way people so rarely see."

Colin searched for his teacher, but he couldn't find her anywhere. Did she really miss him that much? Colin had always seen him as the mother he never really had (his own mother had left when he was eight years old and hadn't looked back), but he never knew she cared for him as much as he cared for her.

"He's dying. He's only sixteen, and he's dying. He doesn't deserve to die young. There's so much he wants to do, needs to do. I know if he has the chance, he can truly make this world a better place. So please… do some of your miracles and make it the day of the battle again. But this time, don't let him jump in front of me. I'll take his fate if it means he gets to continue living."

She would do that for him? All this time, he thought he was just her student, nothing more. Clearly she cared for him a lot more than he thought.

"I'm not getting any younger, but he has his whole life ahead of him. Please… Please. Don't die on me.. Please."

Colin made his decision. He didn't care how long he was in this in between. He wouldn't die. Not yet. Professor McGonagall was pleading for him to hang on. He wouldn't leave her after she prayed to God to allow her to take his place.

Colin's life began flashing before his eyes, scenes and images and flashbacks racing through his mind at a speed that caused a headache. Most of them featured Professor McGonagall, the woman he looked up to, the woman he thought of as his mother…

Colin's eyes fluttered open, and he stared at the hospital wing ceiling as he listened to Professor McGonagall cry beside him, obviously having not noticed him awaken.

"He saved me…" she was murmuring.

"And I'd do it again," Colin rasped.

The crying abruptly stopped as Colin turned his head to look at his professor.

Neither of them spoke. They simply smiled at one another, unsure of how to voice their gratitude to have the other person in their lives.

* * *

"Come on!" Twenty-three year old Colin ushered Professor (now Headmistress) McGonagall into the hospital room, where Colin's wife (a half blood named Susanna Morganton) sat in a hospital bed.

Two delicate bundles rested in her arms, and Minerva sat on the edge of the bed as Susanna handed the bundles to her.

Two babies. One boy, one girl. Twins. Colin's children, his first and second born.

"What are their names?" Minerva asked as she stared at the boy's smile, so much like Colin's excited grin, and into the girl's eyes, so much like her father's bright blue orbs.

"This is Robert, named after my father," Colin said, gesturing to the baby boy. "And my daughter is named after the woman I thought of as a mother to me. My own mother left when I was eight, and this woman was more of a mother to me than my biological one ever was. Her name is Minerva."

Minerva McGonagall glanced up in surprise.

"She's named after you, and one of the reasons we brought you to meet them today was… well, we were wondering… would you be interested in being their godmother?" Colin asked with a hopeful smile.

Minerva felt tears of joy fill her eyes as she stared at the babies in her arms before glancing back at the boy- no, man. The person she thought of as her son, the one she'd almost lost.

People said Colin was the lucky one because he survived his injuries, but honestly, Minerva thought she was the lucky one because she still had this amazing boy in her life.

"I'd be honored," she replied.

* * *

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 _Thank you for reading! Goodbye, everyone!_


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